What to do next? The great Snowmass Transit Center debate

With multiple decades of Snowmass Mall Transit Center discussion already tallied, the future of a new center remains unknown. But one thing is clear — it’s time to talk to stakeholders. 

Snowmass council came to this conclusion Monday after deciding to discontinue a pursuit of federal dollars at the end of February. The discontinuance came after council was crunched by a tight deadline to pursue the $13.5 million federal grant. They didn’t feel they could fund the project on their end, given the timeline, and were worried the Federal Transit Administration would reject the design due to a parking shortfall.

But council was divided on Monday regarding next steps. Some members felt they should polish the design before taking it public, while others wanted to get feedback first.

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“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this already,” said Town Manager Clint Kinney. “I think we can go to the stakeholders, and say, ‘What do you think?'”

With a projected cost of $44 million to $60 million for the project, contributions include $6 million from Pitkin County’s Elected Officials Transportation Committee, and $500,000 the Roaring Fork Transportation Committee. Snowmass will also contribute $3 million, giving them $9.5 million available to use toward the project, according to town staff.

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But there will be no state or federal grants available for the next four years, so they’ll have to look at other financial options to account for the shortfall, according to town staff.

Involving stakeholders more heavily, however, will likely make them more involved in the design process because they’ll have more money on the line.

“If RFTA contributes more, they’ll want more,” said Sam Guarino, Snowmass Transportation director. 

For months, council has been discussing multiple designs, culminating in two options. One design featured a two-story transit center over the existing transit center and Lot 6 as well as a two-story parking garage over Lots 4 and 5 to account for the loss of parking from Lot 6. The second design was similar to the first, except it excluded the parking garage over Lots 4 and 5, opting for ground level parking, giving the project a smaller size and scope.

As they move forward, Mayor Alyssa Shenk said she thinks they should prioritize a refined design before reaching out to the public. 

“I think people want to have something to look at that’s pretty close to what it’s going to be,” she said.

But Council member Susan Marolt worries they will lose momentum if they spend too much time rethinking the design.

“I think we should use the momentum to get public feedback and also talk to partners,” she said.

Council member Tom Fridstein suggested they spend $30,000 to $50,000 over a couple months, work with an architect, and get the design imagery to a point where they all agree.

They resolved to continue the discussion at a future meeting, advising town staff to start reaching out to stakeholders to get a feel for their interest in contributing more to the project. 

“We’ll talk to some people, we’ll get some impressions, we’ll come back, we’ll tell you what we’ve heard,” Guarino said.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.